Finland pledges EUR 3.5 million of additional emergency assistance at the International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria - Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN : Current Affairs : Ministry for Foreign Affairs News

Press Releases, 1/30/2013 | Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Finland pledges EUR 3.5 million of additional emergency assistance at the International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria

Press Release 30/2013
30 January 2013

By decision of Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala Finland will grant EUR 3.5 million of additional emergency assistance to those suffering from the crisis in Syria. Finland will announce its pledge in the International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, chaired by UN in Kuwait.

According to the UN estimate, more than four million Syrians are in need of acute humanitarian assistance. More than 700,000 refugees are registered or waiting to be registered in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and other North African countries. The number of internally displaced persons exceeds two million.

Finnish aid is divided between four humanitarian organisations: one million euros will be allocated to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), one million euros to the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP), EUR 1.25 million to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and EUR 250,000 to FinnChurchAid. Finnish support will also be used for provision of humanitarian aid to neighbouring countries of Syria.

The EU and its Member States have granted a total of more than EUR 422 million of humanitarian aid for alleviating the refugee crisis in Syria and the neighbouring areas. Before this decision, Finland had granted EUR 3.6 million in aid for the Syria crisis.

Finland's representative at the meeting in Kuwait will be acting Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Damascus Liisa Maunula. “Finland is deeply concerned about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria,” Liisa Maunula says in her speech. “We appeal to all parties involved to comply with the principles of international justice and ensure protection of civilian population. Humanitarian assistance must reach all those who need it. Finland supports the co-ordinating role of the UN in assisting the victims of the crisis.”